


Overexposed Negatives

by Icarus_Solaire



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Awkward First Times, But only later, F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, High School, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, dad cor, no beta we die like men, plot heavy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 08:59:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11756418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icarus_Solaire/pseuds/Icarus_Solaire
Summary: An AU where Regis and the Kingdom of Lucis managed to liberate Tenebrae 15 years ago as of M.E. 751. With the alliance with Tenebrae, Galahad, and several small surrounding provinces going strong, there is celebration in the streets and fanfare all around. There is hardly a worry for the all but forgotten, crippled 'empire' of Niflheim A young Prompto's only worry, aside from the disapproving glare of his father, is if he'll make the celebration in time to catch a few photos of the esteemed royal families and valued guests. The only quest him and the young prince of Lucis set off on is to see how many times, in one conversation, Prompto can put his foot in his mouth. So far the tally is isn't looking good.**Basically this is what would happen if a few events had unfolded differently for all the characters involved in the canon with some canon divergence in the way of some character backstories. Lots of plot, Promptis, all slowly leading up to a big conclusion. This is gonna be a long one. Pray for me.





	Overexposed Negatives

**Author's Note:**

> SO! This is my first Fic I've written since 2006. Please be gentle with me, dear readers! This is also unbeta'd and unread by anyone else other than me ghosting over it in attempts to make it somewhat ready for you all to read. If anyone wants to volunteer to be a sweet, little helper; HEY, hit me up. Otherwise, strap in boys, gals, and non-binary pals, because it's gonna be a long one. 
> 
> Feel free to also follow me over on my new fandom twitter @kiwi_sunshine. I'll try to post updates there, snippets and maybe even doodle some stuff from the fic if people like it.

Music had already started to fill the streets of insomnia, and horns were already honking in this small residential district from the ensuing traffic on the newly cleaned streets. There was thorough fanfare going on outside the half open window. Fireworks had been popping almost nonstop since the night before, making most sleep hard to come by in the tight little neighborhood. While people were eager to celebrate any little thing they could, especially in this age, this celebration was definitely well earned. The frantic teen who stumbled around his small room could respect that, even if said fanfare HAD kept him up most of the night. 

Fifteen years of peace and prosperity was a lot to celebrate. Perhaps it wasn't TRUE peace, with Niflheim never seeming to rest, but it had kept Lucis and Tenebrae, as well as the surrounding provinces, sharing a sense of security at the least. That wasn't something that could have been said when Prompto was born, for sure. After the joint forces of Tenebrae and Lucis has pushed Niflheim out of its lands, they had continued that alliance and spread out to all the provinces that surrounded the two. With that, what had once been a strong and fast growing empire was now but pitiful whispers in a frozen land. 

It was definitely a day for celebration, one that so many would take part in; even the traveling oracle and her young daughter. The king would give a speech, and all the news outlets would cover it until you could recite the words yourself. It was going to be wonderful, and while excited…. A certain teenager would be even more eager to start celebrating, had he not lost his lens cap and data chip somewhere in the last twelve hours. 

“Where is it?” he hissed, already running late. People thought Niflheim had been scary? Oooh, no. They didn’t have Mrs. Cabet as their school newspaper sponsor. You didn't know true fear until you looked that woman in the eyes. Her barely concealed disappointment and rage would have any number of monster turning tail. Prompt was sure it would even make Titan fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness or a swift death. 

Shuffling papers, bandaged fingers bumping into cups of pencils, Prompto tore his desk apart trying to find his missing chip. He cursed under his breath, aware of his father in the next room. The sound of running water met his ears, but his father might have well of been a bat, with how he managed to hear everything. Thankfully, his muted curse was not one of those things. He let out a frustrated sound, pouring out the cup of pencils in his fight to find the offensive missing items. 

"SHIT!" he grimaced, freezing. That was a lot louder than he'd meant to be, and he heard the sound of a toothbrush or razor dropping into the sink. Any other day, and he’d been down the stairs, fleeing from his father’s disapproving look, but he was too frantic. He had to find those pieces! How could he lose something he’d just had the night before? He would have marked at how it was nothing unusual for him…if it weren't for his father's voice cutting through the panic that saturated the room. 

"Prompto!" Came the stern voice, the half shaven face of his father poked into his room. "Watch your language." he was almost satisfied with leaving it at that, obviously in quite the hurry himself, but the state of his teenage son's room had him moving entirely into the doorway and he crossed his arms. He was quite the stoic and serious man, his face seemingly born with knitted brows and a piercing gaze….but it wasn't one he could keep up for long. Even as his arms crossed, the air of authority started to wane, gaze flicking about the room as if trying to focus on exactly what he was seeing, as if he were trying to remember it was his son's room and not somewhere more hostile, more distant. 

Another loud noise snapped him back to the moment and his son frantically running around his room like a crazed chocobo. "Why exactly does your room look like a Kaiser behemoth took a run through it? Don't you have to be somewhere?" 

The tone in his voice had Prompto stopping in his tracks and he turned to look, giving a little awkward chuckle. "Uhhh…sorry dad, um... I'm just trying to find my lens cap for my camera and the memory chip thing…y'know the thing that goes into the camera" he made a motion pointing at his camera's chip slot and the look Cor gave him back was almost comically incredulous, the man unamused by his teenage son. 

"Prompto I'm not that…never mind." he sighed, knowing it best not to get into it right now and pointed behind him with a thumb. "It's downstairs on the table. You left it there last night. Now hurry up." The marshal took a breath, sighing it out slowly before contemplating what he was about to say. He, somehow, knew he'd regret it. "Take the car. You'll be late and I don't want another call from your teacher." His jaw clenched in memory of the last time. She had been overbearing and colorful on her descriptions of just how useless she thought his son was. Cor had certainly felt the parental urge to defend his son, perhaps a bit more but thankfully his military training had taught him when was best to be silent and listen. He wasn't so sure he could do THAT again. 

He shook the thought off, planning to tell him to be careful, try to fulfill at least that basic parenting role, but before he could open his mouth again Prompto was thanking him and flying past him in a blur of bright yellow. After tossing a look around his son's tossed room, his eyes landed on his dark grey smart phone. Another sigh and he wondered if he should even bother shaving at this point. "PROMPTO!" he called turning and waving the phone about in the doorway. "You forgot something. I think you'll need this." 

Quick, heavy footsteps barreled up the stairs and the teenager gave him a brilliant smile. "Thanks! See you later, dad!" he took the phone in one quick swipe, almost tripping over himself and his camera bag as he rushed back down the stairs and out the door. 

Cor sighed to himself once more, patting at his face with the towel that draped around his shoulders. He was already regretting allowing Prompto to take the car as he glanced down at the watch at his wrist. He was most definitely going to be late. He dug his phone out of his pocket and punched in Clarus' number. He was definitely going to regret this but, if anyone understood fatherly responsibilities then Clarus would... especially after he had a good laugh about how he could have just simply driven Prompto. 

\---- 

If asked to describe his dad's car, 'adequate' was probably the best descriptor that came to mind. It wasn't a bad car and Prompto, by no means, lived a life of luxury to decide or need any more than that. Adequate wasn't EXACTLY an insult, either. Really, when he had to compare himself in assignments, that was the word he'd even use for himself. There were a few dings and scars, but it still ran perfectly well with only the occasional hiccup. Then there was the sputtering and shrieking. That happened sometimes, too. "The car sounds fine, though." he would often tease, taking a potshot at himself in the process. 

Baring that, it was a classic, perfectly sized for two guys and just fit about everything they could want to shove in the old girl. She'd had a few body mods over the years to fix some various things wrong with her, but only because they refused to give up on her. 

As much as Prompto loved her though, he knew his dad loved her far more. On top of his nerves shuddering at the thought of not making it in time to snap pictures, there was that underlying fear he'd end up having some idiot run into his dad's car on the way to it. Why had he even accepted the offer, again?? 

He wasn't even sure he'd seen his Dad take an interest in any woman the way he did this car. It wasn't the typical obsession. He didn't spend days working on her or any of that silliness he just had this WAY about him when anyone but him drove her or the way he'd linger in the driver seat sometimes after a long day of work before coming inside. She was like a companion, or a therapist. A much needed one, Prompto realized from the distant looks his father sometimes had. 

Prompto affectionately tapped the well-worn black leather steering wheel. it was nice thinking about the days they'd spent laid out on that broad and long hood just looking up at the sky. It was those thoughts that helped calm his earlier nerves and was keeping him from focusing on how long this light was sitting on red and the line of cars before him. 

Come to think of it, while glancing to the passenger seat, he had this car to thank for his interest in photography. Well this car and Cor's fumbling attempts at fatherly bonding. One cheap wind-up camera and a panorama of stars glittering above the Cauthuss crater later and here he was. 

The digits lighting up on the radio made him cringe. Here he was 30 minutes late for the Sylleblossom ceremony. 10 or 15 minutes late meant he would at least make it for the honorary exchange of blossoms between Queen Sylva and King Regis. 20 and he'd at least been able to snap a few shots of the King just as his speech was ramping up. If he had arrived RIGHT NOW then he'd at least get a few good shots of the royal families and the closing statements of the much loved king. 

At this rate he would be lucky to get there in time for a shot of the King's back before he left the podium. An impatient and defeated groan passed his lips and he banged his head on the steering wheel, lips turned into a helpless pout. 

It was definitely no surprise when he finally arrived and saw everyone who had special access had already moved into the capital building, only the remains of the podium covered with petals of Sylleblossoms and the remnants of ornamental Lucian skulls crafted in faux crystal. Two displays had already been picked apart by the attendants, pieces taken as trinkets he assumed. 

Mrs. Cabet wouldn't find it as sentimental has he did, he was sure, but as he shuffled in front of the abandoned podium he couldn't help but think how beautiful it was. It was empty, sure, but the fallen blossoms, the light that danced over the remnants of faux crystal skulls. It was empty but when he thought about what all this meant, it took his breath away. Maybe he was just a romanticist but it almost seemed more powerful than if the king had been there himself, mid speech. After all, peace wasn't just about the presence of a person, it could be seen just as easily in this. With one hand he dug into his camera bag, his other brushing through long blond strands. 

"Well better than nothing." He whistled, already mentally counting down the hours he had left in the waking world. He took a few snaps for each display, kneeling for the last two to get different angle with better light. 

While Prompto worked quick, each shot was taken with care, careful not to overexpose the frame of the shot. The last he was sure to catch the petal covered stage in the background with the behemoth of a capital building towering intimidatingly above. He liked shots like this, shots that showed the beauty in something being in disarray and imperfect. 

The way the light struck the podium and the stage, how the petals scattered across the now worn red carpet struck a sentimental side of him. The ceremony was over, everything was in disarray but still it meant something. It meant this day had come and that moment had gone and they were still safe and free. 

As he plucked at the faux crystal structure, breaking a tip off a feather shaped branch of crystal that barely resembled such anymore, he couldn't help thinking that it was all a bit eerie. It was as if no one were here anymore to confirm it for him that they really were all still safe. Niflheim hadn't chosen the moment of the ceremony to attack. That piece would be his proof. 

Just as Prompto reached for another part to take home to Cor, a voice cut through the oddly silent plaza making him jump from his knelt position and fall back on the seat of his jeans. 

"What are you doing?" The ever so slightly raspy male voice was tinted with amusement. "Isn't that like, defacement of property or something?" There was DEFINITELY more than a hint of amusement for sure that time and the smirk on the face of boy as Prompto turned around was confirmation. 

His cheeks heated with embarrassment, more so at falling on his ass than being caught swiping a piece of the display. Sure, everyone else had done it but they had done it in a crowd, now it just looked like he'd sat there picking the displays apart. A nervous chuckle passed his lips, the awkward smile causing his eyes to squint. 

"Uhh...yeah I guess you're right, ahaha. I'd say everyone was doing it but that kinda seems like an excuse, huh?" Prompto stood, cradling his camera in one hand and brushed off the backs of his jeans with the other. "I just wanted a souvenir is all." The blonde continued, filling the silence with stuttery excuses, trying his best to act cool. He wasn't nearly as anxious around people as he had been as a kid, sure, but people were hard to deal with. Most of the time he wondered how people even thought of things to say. Suggesting a topic or LEAVING a conversation was impossibly hard for him to gauge. 

"Oooo...but why don't you just go get something from inside or something?" The dark haired teen asked, cutting through Prompto's thoughts of perhaps seeing his way out of the conversation. It caught him off guard for a second and he knew the answer just failed to completely deliver. 

Fiddling with his camera shocked him out of his momentary stupor and it just reminded him how very dead he was. "Yeah that's not happening. Only VIPS and press get in there. Pretty sure anyway." 

The teen walked forward, running a hand through damp hair. Had he just showered before coming out here? His clothes, however, didn't look like someone who was coming for a ceremony. For a moment his blank expression turned ever so slightly annoyed before dropping to that of a contemplative stare. 

Deep blue eyes examined the remains of the skull idol, as if he were struggling with something. "Why do you want a souvenir anyway? Was the speech that good?" 

Prompto shook his head, taking a picture of the idols once again, even managing to snag one of the dark haired teen as he plucked a piece from the remains of the crown on the skull idol. "Nah. I completely missed it. It's kinda lame maybe but just, yknow, marking the occasion and all that." Prom was almost certain he sounded like an old man. He needed more friends his age before he became a copy of his dad. The thought made him let out a soft chuckle that earned him a quizzical stare from the young man. He also needed to get out of his own head more, he realized. 

Still, the purpose of the sliver of faux crystal seemed to resonate with him finally and the teen eyed the chunk he'd pulled away and slipped it into pockets of his cargo shorts. "It's not lame. Guess I just didn't think about it like that." The way he said it almost made the raven haired boy sound spoiled, but at least the tug of a smile was kind and put Prompto at ease. 

"You a reporter?" He asked the blond, pointing at his camera. It didn't look like your typical cheap tourist camera and definitely not something he expected from just any one that looked as young as the awkward and lanky guy in front of him. 

Prompto looked down at the DSLR camera. He and Cor weren't rich, they did okay, but normally something like his camera would have been beyond their means. It was the one thing Cor had ever splurged on. He'd nearly spent an entire bonus on it when Prompto knew there were tons of other things they could have had in place of it. 

He looked back up to him and shook his head, adjusting and shifting on his feet. "Uh-uh. I'm just in high school. I got some school paper thing to take some pictures of the ceremony and royal families." he made a bored expression. "You know, the usual boring stuff everyone will have in the papers." Prompto rocked back on the heels of his trainers, glancing around as the sounds of city life seemed to start up again just outside the plaza. 

A thoughtful hum and an expression of boredom later, the dark haired teen gave a nod. "Sounds about right. Maybe someone could get you in?" he asked, a hint of an offer in his tone of voice. A hint that Prompto totally missed. 

The only person who could get him in was his dad and, well, he was pretty sure Cor had rather he not. Cor admired and looked up to the king, he respected him and served him, but he still strove to keep Prompto far away. Maybe it was because of his comments about the young prince being a lazy lay about and a bad influence. He could only imagine embarrassing his dad if he did something stupid in there. It was swarming with people and he got a whole hell of a lot more uncoordinated the more people were around him. 

"It's fine. I'm just gonna die is all." Prompto said dramatically with an almost pained chuckle, bending down to slip his camera back into his bag. "My dad works in the palace but pretty sure I missed what my teacher wanted me to get, anyway." 

The other boy shifted on his boots, favoring a leg. "Your dad does?" He asked, only slightly curious. There was amusement in his words as he said the next thing, a glint in his deep blue eyes that Prompto seemed to miss. "So you must know a lot about the Royal family?" 

"Huh?" The blonde was slightly confused, indigo eyes wide for a moment before he rolled a shoulder and quirked a brow. "My dad is part of the Crownsguard." All things considered, Prompto had never paid much attention to his dad's position. If you asked him, he just thought it was a fancy way of saying 'security'. His dad might have mentioned once or twice about being a Marshal but, honestly, Prompto was a teenager. He didn't remember much his dad mentioned about work amidst the multitude of games, tv shows, and school newspaper drama. 

He wasn't ENTIRELY ignorant, but he'd often had other interests to the point that he could tell you there was a king, he was Regis and he was important but he was nowhere near as interested in the Royal Family and the line of Lucis as everyone else seemed to be. The rest of the politics and gossip was lost on him, though. They were just people, right? 

He felt himself relax around the other and shrugged a shoulder again. "Eh. Not so much. Sure I know what my dad tells me but I don't really care. He's just got to vent, sometimes." 

"Really?" Though his tone stayed flat, Prompto could hear a hint of surprise in his voice. "I don't hear that much. Everyone seems to want to know about them." 

"They're just not that interesting. I'd rather take pictures of an empty stage or play King's Knight." Prompto said tossing his camera bag over his shoulder. "Like, man I don't know. They're people with their own mess of hang-ups and lives, too. No need to gossip about 'em. The rest of Insomnia is plenty interested in them to make up for me, right?" 

"Gossip? So you've heard some." The amused teen leaned against one of the displays, the corner of his lip curving upward. 

Prompto waved his hand through the air, rocking back on his trainers again. "I mean yeah. You can't go anywhere without hearing it. Don't you go to school or something?" he scratched the side of his face giving an awkward little chuckle. He really hoped the raven haired boy wasn't looking for some type of gossip. 

"Not much. Humor me." came the friendly reply. 

Not being much for gossiping he had to take a moment to think, looking over the other like he REALLY felt like he should know this guy. It'd been bothering him the whole time but, really, this was Insomnia and sometimes he felt like most of the people his age started to look the same. It couldn't hurt, right? He wasn't really gossiping just relaying information from other gossipers. 

"Uuuh…I don't know. The girls have a whole lot to say about the Prince. Some guys too but it's the usual stuff. 'He's hot, he looks like a bad boy or a good boy'. Their gossip about him being a prodigy and other about him being a bastard. It's stupid. It's like the less people hear about someone the more they wanna make up to 'understand' them better." The sigh he gave was almost disgusted, brushing a strand of blond hair from his face. 

Prompto talked with his hands a lot, that was pretty apparent right then as he motioned around him after each bit of information. "My dad really looks up to the King though. Says he's fair and regal and all that. If he could show much emotion I might just think the King was his idol." he chuckled on that one, wanting to avoid what his dad had to say about the prince as much as possible. It wasn't exactly pretty. 

There was a look of disgust on the dark haired teens face as he listened to the first part of what Prompto offered. People really had nothing better to do with their time? He thought of asking that but chose not to, feeling his tone might just give him away. Hearing about the king, however got him curious. This was a man who had interaction with the royal family, or at least was telling people he had. 

"What about the prince?" Shit. Prompto had hoped he wouldn't ask. 

"Uuuh...well." He shifted awkwardly which caused the young man to raise a dark brow in question. This conversation had gone on long enough, right? Maybe he could make a break for it. Strangely enough, even if he tried to move it was like his feet were rooted to the spot. Curse his damn anxiety, now was not the time. 

"C'mon, it can't be that bad." The chuckle he gave was soft, almost kind. For a moment it made the blonde untense and, gripping at the strap of his camera bag he thought about it. 

Rubbing the back of his neck, Prompto made a face. "He's an irresponsible selfish brat that doesn't know the meaning of responsibility and would sleep in all day if his handlers didn't pull him out of bed." For some reason he cringed when saying that, trying to get out the words as fast as he could. Maybe it would be too fast for the other teen to even understand It wasn't cool to gossip about somebody, after all. Even if he laughed when his dad told him stories and boy had he told him stories. 

The dark haired young man didn't seem to like it either, his humored expression turned somewhat more stern, then thoughtful. Yup, he'd definitely understood every word. Honestly, it made Prompto react the way he knew best when things got awkward. He stated it blatantly out loud. "Awwwwwkward. I mean come on, he's not exactly any different than most of us teenagers right? Pretty sure we'd all just sleep all day if our parents didn't drag us out of bed and I mean...we're teenagers. We're not MEANT for responsibility. At least not the serious kind. I can't even be responsible for my camera half the time. Couldn't imagine being told I'm gonna be responsible for a whole kingdom." the blonde rambled, holding up his camera bag as if the young man knew anything about his wild hunt this morning for his wayward card and lens cap. Trying to further cut the tense air he supplied a quick. 

"I killed a fish once!" okay maybe that was a little loud and anxious for something that was supposed to be smoothing things over. It was almost like he was PROUD of it. "I mean…not intentionally. My dad thought it would be a good start to having a cat or a dog." He gave a shaky half grin. "I was like…12 but that fish didn't stand a chance. Now just imagine if I was responsible for a whole city full of people…." 

The humor returned to the boy's face for a mere second before a familiar voice cut through Prompto's onslaught of rambling. "Your highness!" Came a gravely voice, one part worried, one part relief and a huge part annoyed. Maybe it was hard for the boy to understand the words his father spoke, since Cor tended to keep his emotions pushed down, his voice often professional to reflect his militaristic upbringing. All he knew was his father's voice and ton and god he was probably dead. Not sure what he'd done wrong but he kind of felt like he'd killed that poor fish all over again with the sound of the man's booming voice in the empty plaza. 

"Oh shit it's my dad." Prompto whispered, his expression almost as shocked as the other's to hear Cor's voice. The blond didn't notice it right away, assuming the 'your highness' was for him. Later he wouldn't even know why. Nicknames were not his dad's style no matter how annoyed he got. 

 

Prompto wanted to shoo the other away before his dad closed the gap but he just stood there with his arms defiantly crossed over his slim chest. It wasn't until his dad stood right in front of them , looking not at Prompto but at the other young man did he understand. That was also when all the color drained from his face and Prompto had vowed that, if he survived this day he might just start praying to the Astrals after all. 

"Prince Noctis." Cor spoke pointedly, trying to convey an essay's worth of knowledge in those two words that, if the stories were true, Noctis would surely know every word. 

"Marshall" Was the only retort Noctis gave, the corner of his lip twitching up ever so slightly against his will at the sight of Prompto turning practically blue in the face. If the raven haired teen hadn't actually enjoyed his talk, he might have had a sick sense of satisfaction at the way the freckled boy puffed up in realization.


End file.
